I am Chair of the producing dept. at the New York Film Academy. In reading TFF’s recent transmedia storytelling post I realized this is it! This is it! This is a far reaching piece of the puzzle for my producing students and I sent the article to all current students and some former.

The onus is always on me to make some prophetic statements and decisions based on the research available to me for the students. But I’m no prophet. So I scour the internet day in & day out for some morsel of food to feed the sparrows. Some twig of hope to feather the nest. And every day, we, as a group fly hard against the prevailing winds.

My students are scared. One of them called me for an emergency meeting when his mother wouldn’t stop crying and telling him he was going to live under a bridge some day if he didn’t give up his dream to be a producer. He’s a working producer in Germany right now btw. Another told me yesterday she had a dream she was hit by a truck and screamed at the EMT to get her to her final pitching sessions here and not take her to the hospital. We had a good laugh, but it was ominous indeed.

Transmedia storytelling is a way out of the doldrums. I have these Failure Is Not An Option panels for and with my students. I bring in very disparate members of the community. Jeff Gomez who was mentioned in the blog was kind enough to attend. This man is a gem. He feels that young directors and producers do not necessarily understand what he does. Maybe they regard it as too lofty and/or cognitive. But his filmic universes can be the bread and butter for the newbiest of our community. As the blog stated, it’s not for every film but we should examine it before we abandon it.

I tell my students that if you want to get rich you have probably chosen the wrong profession. Wall Street is a hop, skip, and jump away-go there. Or maybe dental hygiene is in your future. But if you want to align yourself with the Jeff Gomezes of the world who enjoy giving a soul to inanimate objects-those things that wouldn’t have a soul if left to those corporations whose name(s) we dare not say. We don’t need to abandon art or character or humanity or heart or spirit.

I told a former student of mine this morning that a documentary she’s currently pitching has a lot of monetary upside, especially if she configures a new world for her characters. I know her characters from a short doc she did about them and I wouldn’t mind a bit abandoning myself to their world. She maintains this is not necessarily appropriate for a documentary. We are now at the stage where we agree to disagree. But I’m right. J

Help us fly against the wind. If there are enough of us, the wind doesn’t stand a chance.

Anita TovichChair/DirectorProducing Dept.DirectorIndustry Speaker SeriesDirectorIntern and MentorshipNew York Film Academy

SF Film Society Blog

✨✨"City of stars, are you shining just for me?" #LaLaLand starring #ryangosling and #emmastone

#WarrenBeatty at the 45th SF International Film Festival. Excited to host this legend at the #CastroTheatre on Monday.

8:30 tonight! We close out #DocStories with #WernerHerzog. Already have Sunday plans? Reroute them to the Castro. Tickets at sffs.org.

Love this portrait of Barry Jenkins from our 2008 Festival. His new (amazing) film #Moonlight is in theaters this weekend. Watch it for your own good! Photo by Pat Mazzera.

Our conversation with Ezra Edelman at #DocStories explores the director's masterwork, O.J.: Made in America, and examines race, celebrity, media, and the justice system in the US.
Don't miss this intimate and important discussion, November 4 at the Vogue.

The final weekend of Modern Cinema features spooky, scary good films from #Criterion, #Janus, and Apichatpong Weerasethekul. Ends Sunday at #SFMOMA.

Happy birthday, #CarrieFisher! Thrilled to have your new film #BrightLights open Doc Stories November 3.

Modern Cinema week two starts Thursday @sfmoma! Experience the stunning films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul with the director in person.

Modern Cinema starts TONIGHT @sfmoma! Classics from @criterioncollection & @janus_films along with stunning films by Apichatpong Weerasethekul. Movies roll for the next three weekends. Tickets are selling fast!

With new films by Werner Herzog & Ava DuVernay, #DocStories features the best nonfiction work of the year. Lineup just announced at sffs.org.